Albert Silver

Although I only began working full-time as an editor and journalist in chess in 2010, for over 25 years I have been involved in just about every aspect there is to the royal game, for which I am unapologetically passionate.

In the late 80s, living in France, as a teenager I worked for the famous Parisian chess store, “Librairie St. Germain” (later to become the “Librairie Games”) during my summer vacation, as a salesman, or at the tournaments running a stand. When I went to college in the US, appalled by the lack of chess activity in Madison, Wisconsin at the time, I undertook to give free chess classes to children every Sunday at the local bookstore/coffeehouse. The idea was met with great success, covered by the state newspaper in a feature article, and leading to classes at the local YMCA.

In the 90s I moved to Brazil, where I developed further as a player, winning the Rio de Janeiro Championship, as well as team competitions, winning the State Championship as well as coming in second in in the Brazilian National League. During this period, I achieved a peak rating of 2240 FIDE.

From 1999-2002, I worked as a software interface designer for the Russian company Convekta (now rebranded ChessOk), where I integrated online playing functionality with advanced database and analysis features for the first time. While unheard at the time of the release of Chess Assistant 6, it has since become a standard feature in online playing programs.

In 2010, after a series of emails and talks with Frederic Friedel, one of the founders of ChessBase, I was brought into the company, now as editor and writer of ChessBase News, which has been my full-time job until the present. I am also a passionate photographer with work appearing in numerous publications. For samples of my work, be sure to visit my Flickr page.

Recent news

8/4/2017 – It was a remarkable month for ratings, with notable results all over. A few standouts are 18-year-old Wei Yi, who is now no. 14, 14-year-old Alireza Firouzja poised to become a GM at 2518 FIDE, and 13-year-old WFM Bibisara Assaubayeva, who flew to 2421 and will get her IM title soon. If that's not enough, Magnus Carlsen has now opened an 80-Elo gap in the Blitz ratings. Still, the nod must go to Teimour Radjabov, the second youngest player ever in the Top 100, for his win at Geneva.

7/31/2017 – The Match of the Millenials was astonishing to say the least. On paper, the US under-17 team had such an Elo advantage that some bemoaned the lack of stronger foreign juniors to make it more ‘competitive’. Instead they had already lost a full round in advance, as had the under-14. A great result for the World team, winning 30.5-17.5, and a tribute to their team spirit and their captain. Full illustrated report. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

7/28/2017 – Part of a "summer of chess" at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, the Match of the Millennials, is a wonderful idea, pitting top US Juniors against a selection of international juniors representing the ‘World’ team. The US brings some of it hottest names such as Jeffery Xiong, Samuel Sevian, and Awonder Liang, while the World includes Praggnanandhaa, Bibisara Assaubayeva, and more. At the midway point, here is the illustrated report. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

7/17/2017 – Round two showed a tournament that is clearly hard to define early on. While Vladimir Fedoseev made headlines by beating his compatriot Vladimir Kramnik in the opening round, in round two he was soon in big trouble against Matthias Bluebaum after excessively optimistic opening play, and lost. Joining Bluebaum is Radolaw Wojtaszek, who defeated Wang Yue in a back and forth struggle. Report with analysis by GM Moradiabadi.

7/16/2017 – Vladimir Kramnik is referred to as Mr. Dortmund locally, and for good reason: he has won the prestigious tournament a staggering ten times. As the top seed and no. 2 player in the world, it was no small surprise to see him fall to the young gun Vladimir Fedoseev, the latest rising star in the Russian chess pantheon. Defending champion Maxime Vachier-Lagrave also had a brush with defeat, though lived to tell the tale. Enjoy this report with analysis by GM Moradiabadi.

Enjoy the best moments of recent top tournaments (Norway Chess, FIDE GP Moscow, WCh Teams) with analysis of top players. In addition you'll get lots of training material. For example 11 new suggestions for your opening repertoire.

The attention will be paid to the castled king and in particular on ways of exploiting the weakened kingside. Several well-known themes, pawnformations and other attacking weapons are covered in 8 chapters.

Like a fine wine, the Four Knights only improves with age, establishing itself as an extremely effective way of meeting 1...e5. On the outside this opening seems deceptively quiet, yet apparently natural moves can often lead to some devastating attacks.

It was back in the 1920s that the Russian master Benjamin Blumenfeld invented his famous gambit 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.d5 b5!?, and to the present day the opening retains great popularity. Black plays for the initiative and the win from the word go.

Enjoy the best moments of recent top tournaments (Shamkir, Baden-Baden, US Champs) with analysis of top players. In addition you'll get lots of training material. For example 12 new suggestions for your opening repertoire.